


Sideline Stories: Fireflies (Billy)

by UnicornAffair



Series: Wild Pitch [3]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Childhood Friends, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 19:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15516489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: Kimberly and Trini's wasn't the only love story to start at the Sandlot.“Remember when you and I would come out here in July and catch fireflies?”Trini laughed at the memory of two ten year olds on a dumb mission to collect as many fireflies as possible to put into a jar with aluminum foil on the top and tiny little air holes so they could still breathe. “Why were we so hell bent on catching those anyway? We pretty much sent them to their deaths”Jason smiled fondly, looking up to the night sky above them, “Billy loved watching them light up, but he was never coordinated enough to get them in his hands”Only Trini didn't know about the time Jason took Billy out to try and catch fireflies on their own.





	Sideline Stories: Fireflies (Billy)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladyofthesun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofthesun/gifts).



> Happy birthday LadyoftheSun! Last year I wrote you a Cranscott fic and I felt it was only right to write you another for this year. Haha it's like a tradition. I hope you have an amazing day :)

This summer had literally been the best ever! Billy was the type of kid that enjoyed school, he loved learning and he loved being in a structured environment so when the last day hit, he took it pretty hard. He wouldn’t have Mr. Alpha anymore, and his mother couldn’t afford extra tutoring sessions over the summer so he would have free reign in the summer to do...well, whatever kids did. If his family couldn’t afford a tutor, they certainly couldn’t afford summer camp, any of the money Billy saved up from his allowance he used to buy Spider-Man comics. No, what made this summer special were the new friends he met. 

Jason Scott had always been close to Billy, the two lived down the street from one another until the Scotts moved into a new place. It didn’t keep those two boys apart. Jason would always ride his bike over and ask if Billy could come out and play. The two rode their bikes around town, Jason was  _ so _ cool that he never wore a helmet, just a LA Dodgers baseball cap. It was through their adventures that they discovered a Sandlot close to the mountains. Tommy Oliver, Zack Taylor, Trent Mercer and so many other boys-some in an older grade like Dustin Brooks, Mike Fernandez, Adam Park, Rocky DeSantos. With Jason and Billy coming to play it would bring the ‘team’ to a full nine players and for awhile...they had a lot of fun. Only, once camp started...the boys stopped showing up. Billy thought that their summer of baseball would be over. 

That’s where he was wrong. 

The Sandlot gang may’ve become small, but with new  _ girls _ in town Trini Gomez and Kimberly Hart, they made this little dirt pile their home. Games would have to get a bit more creative with only six people playing. It didn’t matter. Every morning Billy would be so excited to hear Jason knock on his door because that would mean another day spent with his best friends. Despite being a girl, Trini fit in with the boys so easily, so much that sometimes Tommy would forget that she  _ was _ a girl. Jason on the other hand was a bit more protective of her, while Zack...Billy wasn’t blind, he totally had a crush on her. When he heard that Trent Mercer was the first one to kiss her Zack stuck a wad of gum in his hair.

Then there was Kimberly Hart. The prettiest ten year old Billy had ever come to know. Even better she would bring juice boxes and mini bags of chips to the sandlot she was  _ so _ cool that even the great Tommy Oliver stumbled with his words around her. Whenever Kimberly was around, Jason and Tommy would start to get overly competitive with one another. It drove the fire behind the green vs red team rivalry. Girls. No, Billy set his sights on a  _ woman.  _ Amy Johnson, a  _ college _ girl who life guarded at the pool. If the summer heat was  _ too much _ to play baseball, Billy would cooly suggest that they take a break and spend some time at the community pool. Everyone would cool off, and he could see his crush blow on a whistle and tell kids to stop running.

Tommy and Zack convinced Billy that he was ready to go off of the high dive, Jason was at the vending machine getting a bag of cheetos while Trini and Kim were doing their best to reassure Billy that he did  _ not _ have to if he didn’t want to. He wanted to. He wanted to show off to Amy that he was brave like the cool kids and he could handle the  _ deep _ end of the pool.  
  
He couldn’t. 

Not many people could say their first kiss was with the  _ hottest _ lifeguard in Angel Grove but when Billy came to the only thing he could see was this beautiful girl, no, woman over him. He was  _ fine.  _ Billy had  _ never _ witnessed Kimberly and Trini get so upset with Tommy and Zack before. Trini punched the heck out of Zack’s arm and Kimberly, she was simply disappointed in Tommy which struck deep into his core. It was Billy’s choice to go off the high dive, at the end of the day they should’ve been upset with him. 

Jason cried that day. He didn’t know Billy saw him in the corner of the bathroom, so Billy didn’t want to bring attention to that private moment. Jason  _ never _ cried. Even when he got hurt he would try to laugh it off and show that he  _ wasn’t _ in any sort of pain. He didn’t cry at disney movies, not even when Mufasa was trampled or when Bambi’s mother was shot. It was surreal for Billy to see his best friend  _ so _ upset that it brought him to tears...Billy was  _ fine.  _ Great even!

The gang stopped going to the pool.

*****

4th of July was one of Billy’s favorite holidays, it easily made his top three list. He had the  _ best _ memories of his dad cooking out for the occasion and this year the Gomez family volunteered to take the Sandlot gang to the community park to watch the fireworks up and personal. Billy always liked hearing the explosions and seeing the flashes of color, in a way it reminded him of his dad’s stories of working at the local mine. Tommy had also invited the group to his lake house for a bit more privacy but with so many trees and the distance from the main part of town what was the point? He definitely lost the vote.

Mrs. Gomez laid out a couple of blankets for the group to lay out, and brought a couple of snacks so the kids could keep occupied with  _ something _ as they waited for the sky to get dark enough for the fireworks show. Trini’s little brothers Michael and Gabe were such little handfuls as Mr. Gomez tried to put some wax in their ears to try and preemptively protect them from the upcoming loud booms. Kimberly and Trini shared a blanket, claiming it for the girls and that  _ no _ boys would be allowed. They were perfectly content eating red, white and blue firecracker popsicles. Zack, Tommy and Jason preoccupied themselves with a mini tournament of rock, paper scissors as Zack claimed that there was a sure fire way to always win--there wasn’t. 

When Billy needed to use the restroom, Mrs. Gomez insisted that he takes one of the other boys with him. A young ten year old boy amongst a big crowd like this could get lost in the shuffle so easily. With there being six kids, the group could easily pair off into a buddy system if they needed to go anywhere. Tommy and Zack, Trini and Kimberly which left Jason and Billy. Jason didn’t have a problem walking Billy to the bathroom, it meant he could stop by the snack shop and purchase something a little less healthy a little more junkie. A win, win. 

On their way to the snackbar facility, Billy spotted a firefly light up. “Jason look” He pointed off in the direction of the little yellow light that suddenly reappeared again. It wasn’t  _ completely _ dark yet, but just enough for the insects to be seen. “Those are so cool”

Jason took it upon himself to try reaching up and snatching it out of the air, only for it to fly a little higher. “I’ll get you one” He promised, a young Jason having a good couple of inches on a younger Billy. Neither boy really hit a growth spurt yet. Jason always had his shorter friends back, he’d reach things on higher shelves and do more of the heavy lifting, anything to look out for him. “I promise”

“Oh that’s okay” Billy didn’t want Jason to stress out over it, or run into other people’s nice picnic settings on account of him. 

“I  _ promise” _

When Billy and Jason reached the snackbar, the two split up to take care of their business. Billy used the restroom while Jason wanted to buy some flaming hot cheetos. Billy felt bad as it didn’t take him long at all to go in and out of the restroom, for whatever reason there was a huge line for the ladies restroom. What’s so different that it takes girls longer? That wasn’t a question he felt was appropriate to ask Trini or Kim. By the time he got out, he saw that Jason had tucked away his cheetos under one arm, his other arm reaching out and trying to grasp a firefly so he could show Billy one up close. 

One of the  _ sixth _ graders, a taller blonde girl with wavy hair reached out and grabbed the firefly right out of the sky. “Want to see something cool?” She asked the younger boy, sporting a devilish grin on her face. She was all decked out for the holiday, a white tank top with a red white and blue USA, jean short shorts and to complete her look...light brown cowboy boots. Billy and Jason both knew Gia Moran as one of the  _ coolest,  _ prettiest girls in town and here she was giving Jason the time of day, of  _ course _ he said yes to the question. 

Wanting to see what was so cool, Billy joined Jason and stood at his side; watching the blonde with wide curious eyes. She had caught a firefly, what else could she do? Gia bent down to put the firefly on the ground. Jason and Billy were too stunned that  _ the _ Gia Moran was breathing in their direction to  _ stop _ her from putting all her weight into her toes, smashing the firefly into the concrete, smearing it for added effect. When she removed her foot, pieces of the insect were everywhere but the light continued to shine. A twisted piece of art. 

Billy stared horrified at the murder of an innocent bug, Jason though crouched down to get a better look at it. Jason didn’t want to say it, he didn’t have to, but he definitely thought it was the coolest thing he’d see before the fireworks. “Wow”

“Gia!” Gia’s best friend Emma Goodall came out of the bathroom, her hair in pigtails, her outfit practically identical to the blondes. “What have I told you about that?” She rested a hand on Gia’s arm, “Oh my gosh! You’re hurting it...I’m  _ so _ sorry”  _ She _ could pick up on Billy’s discomfort. 

Gia didn’t care, she simply laughed it off. “Oh it’s funny”

Emma shook her head, the compassionate one of the duo, “Come on, Noah’s waiting for us” She looked to Jason and Billy, it would be rude without saying goodbye to them, “See you around” 

When the two of them were out of earshot, Jason had opened his bag of cheetos, offering them to his best friend. Billy shook his head no, he didn’t like the flaming hot kind. “Dude, do you think they mean that?”

“I think Emma was saying that to be nice” Billy and Jason just graduated from the elementary school, there was  _ no _ way Gia would  _ actually _ want to hang out with them. The closest Billy has gotten to the popular blonde is befriending their friend Noah Carver at the comic shop. It was cool to say he had an older friend, it gave Billy some cred. Even if it was attached to a fellow nerd. 

On their way back to their ‘home base’, a couple more fireflies shined their lights. Jason watched their patterns with determination. There were too many people around, he wouldn’t be able to get them without running through their set ups. He didn’t want to get yelled at, but now more than ever he wanted to get one for his friend. A test firework went up into the air, emitting a loud boom and cheers from the locals. The show would be starting soon. He would have to catch the bugs another time. 

When the boys returned they sat on their blanket. Jason refused to let anyone have any of his cheetos, that was until Kimberly asked for a couple-which she ended up sharing with Trini. Patriotic music started to play, setting the tone of the sky lighting up in red, white and blues. Mr. and Mrs. Gomez each had to hold a mesmerized 4 year old in their arms. The Sandlot gang oohed and ahhed at the fireworks. Bam! Boom! BOOM. Zack would dramatically fall over every time the cannon like sound pierced through the sky. Anything to get a laugh from the others. Billy noted that their favorite colors would light up the sky, he would point out to Kimberly, Trini and Tommy when a pink, yellow or green firework would set off. 

Tommy was a fan of the fireworks that screamed loud, slithering up into the air like a snake before their loud explosion. Jason liked when the fire works would rapid fire in the lowly, he joked that the sky was like a giant microwave popping popcorn. Kimberly enjoyed the ones that popped up and then sparkled in the air, glistening for just a couple of moments before disappearing. Trini didn't say a word, she was absolutely enthralled by the light show. Billy couldn't pick a favorite firework, he was more excited that he could share this moment with his best friends.

The grand finale! Fireworks popped like crazy, colors bursting into the air left and right. Screamers, sparklers, poppers, in any color, every color. One would go up just as another one exploded. The song ended, the crowd all erupted in applause to fill the silence the fireworks left in it's wake. Everyone's ears rang, but now were too hyped from that show that it would be nearly impossible to go to bed.

This was the  _ best _ Fourth of July.

*****

A couple of nights later there was a knock on the door. The Cranston’s weren’t expecting any company that evening, so Candace Cranston was surprised to find a young Jason Scott at her door. A jar tucked under his arm, his signature Dodgers hat on backward and a goofy grin on his face. He craned his neck to peer into the house, hoping to  _ see _ his best friend with his own two eyes before asking, “Can Billy play?”

“It’s awfully late…” Candace didn’t want to interrupt Billy’s daily routine with an unexpected stimuli. 

“Awh it’ll be alright” A hearty laugh came from inside the house, William Cranston sat on his recliner, he was watching his Cincinnati Reds play the Arizona Diamondbacks. “C’mon in son. Now what’ve you got there?” He was quick to mute the television in favor of giving the young boy his full attention. “Can I see?”

Jason stepped forward and showed him the jar. The top was covered with a sheet of aluminum foil pinned down with a rubber band with tiny holes poked into the top. Inside Jason threw whatever grass he could find, a small stick or two and tiny rocks to create his own little environment for the five lightning bugs he had caught. Mr. Cranston set the jar in his hand and turned the top ever so slowly to observe it all. “You catch these all yourself?” The ten year old nodded his head yes, “Couldn’t have been easy”

“I was hoping to take Billy down to the Sandlot” Jason meekly glanced over to Candance, “If...if that’s okay. It’ll only be for an hour” 

“Jason...I know you mean well…” Candace hated to say  _ no _ to Billy’s best friend, not after coming all this way, but…

“Can I go?” From the hallway Billy wanted to see what the commotion was all about. He was already ready for bed with his flannel blue pajama pants and his favorite triceratops t-shirt. He came into the living room to see the jar that Jason brought to him. That boy always kept his promises, “I wanna catch some too”

Mr. Cranston handed Jason his jar back in favor of getting to his feet, “Sure you can go, and I’m gonna come to” He strolled over to his wife to kiss her lips, “Candy, they’ll be fine. I’ll take Jason home” The man chuckled again, finding his favorite Reds baseball cap to put on, “You still giving your old man a hard time?”

“He wants me to play football” Jason’s face scrunched up at the other sport. He was a  _ pitcher _ not a  _ quarterback.  _ His response only made Mr. Cranston laugh. “Will you teach me how to throw a curveball Mr. Cranston?” Jason asked hopefully.

“Not tonight” William responded, Billy had already rushed to put his shoes on. His son didn’t care that he was going to be out in his pajamas. “We’ve got fireflies to catch...I’ll teach you when the sun's out, how’bout that?”

“That’d be awesome!” Jason’s smile couldn’t be wider...why couldn’t  _ Sam _ be more like  _ William? _

“Do  _ not _ stay out late” Candace warned, pointing an accusatory finger at her husband. “I’ll call Bev and let her know you’re with the boys”

“You’re an angel” William was  _ trying _ to be smooth with his woman here. 

“Mm more like the second you leave I’m changing the channel” She hummed, leaning up to kiss him once more. “Have fun”

Jason and Billy were quick to get on their bikes and take the familiar trip to their favorite place in the whole world. Instinctively they knew to ride slower than usual so Billy’s father could walk behind them; Jason’s jar in one hand and an empty one for his son in the other. He took his grand old time, breathing in the cool California air. He took a moment to look up at the sky, commenting with a, “It’s a beautiful night to be out” 

When they got to the Sandlot, William took a seat on one of the shoddy benches. He brought his radio with him so he could listen in on the rest of his game. Having grown up in Memphis  Tennessee, William loved country music and the closest home team he could grow attached to...the Cincinnati Reds. He was just dandy listening to his favorite sport on the radio. Baseball was one of the best sports to  _ listen _ to after all. He loved hearing the tension of the game through the sportscasters voice. A  _ good _ radio personality could make a listener sit on the edge of their seat with their passion for the game. Really make them  _ feel _ like they were apart of the action without even seeing it. 

Jason set his jar down, he had already caught his lightning bugs so now he wanted to focus on Billy. Billy on the other hand wanted to prepare his jar as a home to the fireflies. The grass of the outfield, the sand and dirt from the infield. His little ecosystem contained the essence of his favorite place in the whole world, the Sandlot. Jason was the first to catch one, he brought it over to Billy cupped in his hands. “See?” He opened his hands  _ just _ enough for Billy to peer inside to see Jason’s hands illuminate with a bright yellow. 

“Wow!” He rested a hand on Jason’s to close them, he didn’t want his firefly to escape. “Put it in the jar. Oh...oh make sure that you poke enough holes in the lid so they can breathe”

“I know what I’m doing” Jason laughed, going over to Billy’s jar so he could place the firefly inside. The lid was secured on so it couldn’t escape.

The outfield to the Sandlot was the  _ perfect _ place for Jason and Billy to catch fireflies. The area was close enough to the mountains, and most importantly, there was open space to run and try to jump to catch the bugs. Jason was much better at catching them, taking a running start in the outfield to propel himself higher when a bug was trying to get away. Billy was too small, he had to take a different approach to catching the fireflies. Insects weren’t too smart, as long as Billy made a slow approach and didn’t startle it, he could reach out and finally grasp one in his hands.

He did it! He caught a firefly. Billy could never forget the smile on Jason’s face when Billy shouted, “I got one!” His best friend was so proud of him for getting it. 

“You’re going to get  _ ten”  _ Jason was all too confident that this wouldn’t be the  _ only _ catch of the evening.

One by one, Jason and Billy would continue to put fireflies into the jar until they both reached the number ten. When the final one was placed into the jar, Billy secured it well. There were at  _ least _ twenty bugs inside and no matter what the timing at least a couple of them would shine their light for just a couple of seconds. Unintentionally the boys created something so beautiful by placing all the bugs into one jar. Billy and Jason both sat down, completely out of breath from running around so much.

“It’s like we captured a little piece of the sky” Billy observed, the jar currently in his hand. 

“I’m glad I could bring it to you” Jason looked on with a lopsided grin, his eyes full of adoration for his friend. “...You know bugs don’t live for very long” At least the ones they captured and put in the jars would live a nice life. There were little blades of grass in there and everything. 

“We can do this again can’t we?” Billy asked hopefully, he could hardly take his eyes off of the firefly jar. “Maybe invite the others. Zack and Tommy, Kim and Trini!”

Jason shook his head, he didn’t want to get the others involved. Not if Zack or Tommy were going to be buttheads about catching fireflies. He didn’t want this to become an inevitable competition. Another reason for green and red to fight. “This could be our thing...just you and me”

Billy smiled, nodding his head in agreement, “I’d like that” Spending nights with Jason catching fireflies and putting them in their jars would be something he could look forward to, “Can we come out tomorrow?”

“And the day after that” Jason added, “And the day after  _ that”  _

Billy watched as his dad stood, pumping his fists up into the air. The Reds won their big game. He could share that moment with his father, and his closest friend. Nights at the Sandlot during the best summer ever were memories he would carry on with him forever. There truly was something magical about this place.  

**Author's Note:**

> <3 <3 <3


End file.
